


Bruises

by TurtleNovas



Series: Amelioration [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Season 1 & 2 canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 07:40:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13049547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TurtleNovas/pseuds/TurtleNovas
Summary: Dustin feels guilty about Mews, so he and Steve take his mom to get a new cat.





	Bruises

Steve picks up the phone on the third ring, after he realizes that his parents aren't actually home, remembering that they'd left for some sort of business function over an hour ago.

"Harrington residence," he says distractedly, still mostly focused on trying to finish his pre-cal homework before he completely loses his mind and decides graduating isn't worth it.

"Steve?" It's Dustin, and Steve is already shutting the book and tossing his pencil aside before he even replies.

"Hey buddy, what's up?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering if you're free on Saturday. I want to take my mom out."

Steve thinks for a second, trying to recall if his dad had wanted him to do anything this weekend and comes up blank. "Yeah, man, I'm free. What are we gonna do?"

"I want to take her to get a new cat," Dustin says, words rushed and stumbling over each other, probably trying to get it out before the guilt creeps up on him again. "She's been talking about it a lot this week, but I think she feels too guilty about giving up on Mews to go on her own. I thought if you could drive us to the shelter and it was a surprise, she wouldn't want to leave once she saw them."

Steve smiles, a little sad for Dustin and his mom, but also more than a little pleased that Dustin thought to ask him. "Sure," he says readily. "I can come in the morning and we can take her out to breakfast beforehand. That way she'll be in a good mood once we get to the shelter."

There is a long pause on the other end before Dustin replies, "Thanks, that sounds good." He sighs audibly, then continues, "I just feel really bad that I can't tell her what happened to Mews, and I think she really needs to have a cat around to be happy."

Steve wishes he were there to wrap an arm around Dustin, or ruffle his hair when he replies, "Bud, you can't be too hard on yourself. It's not your fault. It'll be okay."

"Yeah, I know. It just sucks, though." He says it mildly, but still, it feels wrong to hear him so muted, when normally he's so full of energy.

"I know man, but it'll get better over time. She'll cheer up once she has a new buddy to love on, and we'll make sure to take good care of her if she's sad when we go to the shelter, okay?"

"Yeah," Dustin says, still quiet, not sounding totally convinced. Steve wishes again that he was there in person. He thinks what Dustin really needs right now isn't so much a plan as it is a hug.

"Do you want me to come over?" He asks, before he even realizes he's thinking it. He looks at the clock, sees that it's almost 9pm, and winces at his own ridiculousness. It's definitely too late for him to be barging in on Claudia like that, and his own parents will be pissed if they come home to find him gone, but still, he realizes, it was a genuine offer. He wonders if he should worry about that; about his newfound inability to tolerate any sort of discomfort from Dustin; about his automatic, instinctive want to keep him safe and happy at the expense of literally everything else. He thinks maybe he should be concerned, but at the same time, he thinks maybe Dustin needs someone looking out for him like that. He knows Dustin's friends care, but he has seen how they've been drifting away after everything, knows that Dustin is more isolated than he's accustomed to, thinks that if anyone deserves some extra support right now, it's definitely him. He also thinks that the Hendersons have been more family to him in the last month than his own parents have for the last ten years, and he'd do anything to keep hold of that.

"No, I'm okay, I promise. Just a rough day."

Steve settles in, then, for a long conversation. He listens to Dustin recount the woes of the day, offering sympathy when necessary. He tells him not to worry about the pop quiz that he thinks he's failed, that it's only one bad grade in a sea of good ones. He agrees that it sucks that, somehow, he'd ended up eating lunch alone that day, because his other friends have all paired off (except Will, but he usually goes with Mike and El anyways, and somehow he's not a third wheel, even though Dustin would be). He tries not to go cold and angry when Dustin tells him that Lucas is still making jabs about Dart, even all these weeks later, tries not to remember the way Dustin had sobbed and wailed in agony about Dart just last week, tells Dustin instead that Lucas is just being a jerk, and that he'll get over it eventually, not to worry. They're all good kids, and Steve doesn't want to foster any extra tension between them by revealing his own anger on Dustin's behalf.

After everything, Dustin makes sure to also ask Steve how his day was, because he's got manners, which somehow makes Steve proud, even though he had no contribution to the development of said manners. Steve just smiles to himself and says, "Nothin' special. Just more of the same." And it's basically true - his whole life now has boiled down to flying solo through the rest of his senior year, all of his friends having abandoned him at the end of last year, trying to dodge Billy Fucking Hargrove at every corner, and hoping that by the time the year is out, he'll actually have some sort of plan for the future that doesn't involve more use of that bat against horrifying monsters from another dimension. Honestly, it's nothing he wants to tell Dustin about. The kid has enough on his plate as it is.

When they hang up, it's with the plan that Steve will pick up Dustin and Claudia at 9 on Saturday, and Steve is glad tomorrow is Friday, because he's really looking forward to spending some more time with the two of them (and he's always happy for an excuse to be out of the house on weekends).

 

* * *

 

It's 8:45 on Saturday morning, and Dustin is buzzing with nervous energy while his mom putters around, waiting for Steve to arrive. He'd told her that he and Steve wanted to take her out, but hadn't revealed that the end game for the day was the animal shelter, and the weight of the secret feels a little oppressive. Dustin has never felt the best about lying, especially not to his mom, and he's been doing so much of it lately, that even this small secret feels like a hook in his chest, pulling roughly, trying to make him bleed. He sighs explosively for the umpteenth time that morning, and she looks over at him, concerned. "Dusty, I'm sure Steve wouldn't mind if we rescheduled if you're not feeling good."

He does his best to smile at her, knowing that this idea is for the best, and that in the end, she will be much happier for it. "I'm fine, Mom. Promise." He gives her a thumbs up, as if that will convince her of anything.

"Okay," she says, doubtfully. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," he says resolutely, as much to himself as to her.

He thinks he'll probably feel better once Steve arrives, finds himself looking impatiently out the front window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the car as he pulls up.

It's only another five minutes or so before he hears the rumble of the engine, and sees Steve turning into their driveway. "He's here!" he calls, jumping up from his spot like a shot, nervous energy bubbling out of him uncontrollably.

"Okay, I'll be ready in just a minute!" his mom calls, as he goes to open the door before Steve even gets out of the car.

Steve notices him and waves as he unbuckles his seat belt and gets out. Dustin raises his hand in a pathetic return wave, anxious and hoping Steve will say something that will make him feel better.

What he says, when he finally makes it up to the door and pats Dustin on the back, following him inside is, "Hey bud, you okay?"

To which Dustin replies, wholly unconvincingly, "Yeah, of course! Why wouldn't I be? I'm fine!"

Steve smiles at him, and his eyes are big, and soft, and encouraging. "It'll be okay. It'll be hard, but she'll be happy, okay?" He squeezes Dustin's shoulder gently, and Dustin is so tense it almost hurts, but he feels himself relax just a little in the face of Steve's confidence.

"Yeah, okay."

When his mom finally comes bustling out, bundled up in her coat, her purse slung over her shoulder, she greets Steve with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and tells him how sweet he is. Steve hugs her back, and thanks her, and tells her she's the sweet one, and that's why they're taking her out today, and Dustin feels a rush of fondness for both of them that's intense enough to be startling and unfamiliar.

He sits in the back seat, listening to Steve chat with his mom about her week as they drive to her favorite restaurant, and wonders, not for the first time, how they ever made it before without someone like Steve around. It seems almost unfathomable to think that, only a year ago he'd had nothing but disdain for Steve; had thought he was just some stupid, stuck up jock that was having a bad influence on Mike's cool sister. He's not sure if he's ever been more wrong about a person in his entire life, and he thinks that maybe this is the kind of life lesson that everyone is supposed to learn at some point, about not judging books by covers and stuff.

Dustin's mom is laughing at something Steve has said, the type of big, huffing guffaw that she rarely gets to have, her eyes watering up from the force of it, and Dustin wishes he'd been paying enough attention to hear what had brought it on. He looks at Steve's face in the rear view and it's a little hard for him to breathe when he sees how fond Steve looks. There's something unsettling, but not necessarily unpleasant, about realizing that he's managed to find someone who fits in so well with their family, who can make Dustin's mom laugh, and seems to genuinely care about her, and about Dustin. He'd always felt, before, that their family was complete, if a little small, but now he can look back and see all the places where they were bruised and battered, where a presence like Steve could have been a salve to their lives.

He looks at Steve again, and remembers being unable to contact his parents when he'd been injured to the point of incoherence, unable even to stand on his own, and thinks that maybe Steve has some bruises of his own that they could've helped heal if they'd been there sooner. In a way, it makes him grateful for everything that's happened, and he's not sure if he'd be willing to take it all back if it meant that he and Steve never got to bond the way they did on the railroad tracks that day. He thinks that means he's a shitty friend, unwilling to make the sacrifice to save Will all that pain. He thinks this realization is a secret he will keep to himself forever, for that very reason.

By the time they finish breakfast, and Steve has snatched the check out of Dustin's mom's reach with a serious, "Don't even think about it. This is my treat," Dustin is feeling a bit more relaxed. He's less jittery, and the pit of worry in his stomach has been filled in at least a bit by his pancakes, and a piece of Steve's french toast. It all ramps up again, though, when, as they wait for the waitress to return with the change, Steve turns to Dustin's mom and says carefully, "I want to tell you where we're going next, because I think you may need a few minutes to process, okay?"

She catches on to his solemnity and looks a little worried when she replies, "Okay?"

Dustin thinks he might start hyperventilating, but feels Steve squeeze his knee reassuringly, and it helps a little. God he doesn't want his mom to freak out or be mad. He just wants her to be happy, and to have a cat, because he knows, even if she doesn't, that Mews is never coming back, and she's so sad without a cat around. He glues his eyes to the table, and tries not to grab for Steve's hand like a little kid when he continues in a gentle voice, "We're going to the animal shelter, because Dusty and I think you could really use a new friend while Mews is away."

Dustin can't bear to look up when he hears her gasp in surprise, or her small, slightly watery, "Oh my."

He sees Steve reach across the table and take her hands in his. "I want you to know that if you're not ready yet, that's okay. We can go back home, and Dusty and I will take you any time you are. But before you decide, just know that this doesn't mean you're giving up on Mews, or you don't care about him anymore. Everyone knows you love Mews as much as anyone possibly can." His hold on her hands is so gentle, and he's running his thumb soothingly over her knuckles as he talks, his voice tender, like he knows he's speaking to her about a lost family member, and not just a cat. "It doesn't mean anything about Mews if you find another cat to take care of. It just means that you have room in your heart for a lot of love."

Dustin feels a little choked up. He has to swallow hard around a lump in his throat, and he feels the burn of tears coming on as he watches his mom's hands turn up and wrap around Steve's. He thinks that Steve has probably just said the exact thing that his mom needs to hear, and he's grateful beyond belief, because he doesn't know what he would have done to clean up this mess without Steve around. He would've been totally screwed when it happened in the first place, and even more screwed now, and his stupid mistake would've cost his mom even more sadness than it already has.

He only realizes that he's forgotten to listen to what she says, trying so hard not to start crying in the middle of the restaurant, when she calls his name. He looks up at her then, and she's smiling at him, a little red around the eyes, but still happy. "I'm sorry about Mews," he says, and is mortified when his voice cracks, and he realizes he really is about to start crying.

His mom, bless her, just scoots her way out of the booth and opens her arms, saying, "Come here, Dusty. Let's have a hug."

He's not even embarrassed when he shimmies out of his seat and wraps his arms around his mom in the middle of the crowded restaurant, can barely even cringe at the fact that he's sort of crying into her chest right now, as he squeezes her tight. Maybe some other time he would've been ashamed, but things have been pretty wild as of late, and sometimes, Dustin thinks, you just need to hug your fucking mom. She pets his hair comfortingly, like she always used to do when he was younger and says directly onto his head, "We're going to go find a new kitty to help keep our hearts nice and warm, and if Mews finds his way home, he will have a lovely new friend. It's going to be okay."

Dustin nods a little frantically, and squeezes her even tighter. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too sweetie," she says, and gives him a big kiss on the top of his head.

Then he can hear her laugh just a little and he feels her unwrap one arm as she says, "Come on, Steve. You're not getting out of the family hug." And when Dustin looks over, Steve looks a little awestruck as he climbs out of the booth as well and gets wrapped up in her free arm. Dustin frees up one of his own arms and puts it around Steve's back, and they're all three still standing there hugging when the waitress clears her throat behind them, looking sheepish.

They break then, all shuffling apart slowly, Dustin trying to discreetly wipe his eyes while Steve takes the change and counts out a tip, and then they're heading out, Steve's hand heavy and warm on the back of Dustin's neck as they walk to the car.

* * *

 

They spend over five hours at the shelter as Claudia systematically makes her way around the cat room, meeting and spending time with each animal, asking Dustin what he thinks about each one, sounding agonized any time she has to move on to a new one. Steve sits in the corner of the play room and watches them, utterly delighted. He'd worried at breakfast about how well this would go, had felt that it was the right thing to do to tell her in advance, rather than spring the surprise on her. He'd almost regretted it when Dustin started crying, but she had seemed to understand where they were both coming from, seemed to have needed to hear what Steve had to say; and the crying, it turned out, was probably a little cathartic for Dustin, who has been carrying a burden of guilt over Mews, and Dart, and lying, and basically everything that's happened, to the point that the toll on him has become noticeable.

At the end of it all, Claudia ends up choosing one of the very first cats they played with - a small Siamese kitten, just barely old enough to be adopted out, who had crawled into her lap and purred for 20 minutes, batting gently at the toys she waved at him, but never wanting to leave her side to go chasing after them. The way she looked at the little guy, and the way he looked back at her, Steve thinks it almost seems fated for them to unite in pet/owner matrimony. It helps, too, that as Dustin watched them together, saw how happy his mother was, Steve could see the tension winding out of him, until, at the end, Dustin is laughing and rubbing the kitten's tummy along with Claudia.

When they finally bring Tews home, while Claudia is setting everything up, and showing him where the litter, and food, and toys, and bed, and everything else in the entire house are, Dustin hugs Steve. It isn't one of their normal hugs. Actually, it reminds Steve more of how Dustin had hugged his mom at breakfast - tight and desperate, like it was his only way to show how much he really did care. It lasts a very long time, and it feels like a bit of a wonder to Steve, to have this kid around who cares enough about him to bring him along on the family trip to get a new cat, and then to hug him like they'd been family all their lives; like he meant something, and would be missed if he weren't there.

When Dustin mumbles a resolute, "Thank you," into the hug, Steve is a little too choked up to reply, so he just hugs him back even tighter and hopes the reciprocation of the sentiment is clear.

 


End file.
